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Perhaps there was a part of Jack that was surprised that so much thought had gone into this other life of his. Looking back, Jack could see how every T had been crossed and every I dotted, coming up with the perfect lies that could cover each and every situation. For a moment, Jack wondered which was worse: lying by omission or lying outright. Neither was a good thing, mind -- but there was that nagging sensation in the back of his mind: Ianto lied to him. He had lied about Lisa and now he had lied about his past.
Was he lying about this between them? Jack was taking the rare gamble in putting his heart bare on the table -- was this too all an elaborate lie, finally getting Jack back for killing Lisa all those months ago?
No, he couldn't think like that. Thinking like that would only lead to resentment -- and the way Ianto kissed him. Passion like that couldn't be fabricated.
Different was the way he was going to put it -- and it was something Jack understood. God, one couldn't get any more different than Jack Harkness. "Be it if your father thought you reminded him of her or..." Jack trailed off, gesturing towards Ianto, "...or the man you would become," Jack finished. "Either one can drive a father to do things... particularly the latter. Parents occasionally know before their children that they've gone bender." Not that Jack would change that aspect of Ianto in the slightest.
"I wanted nothing to do with Canary Wharf," Jack said softly. "After what that lot tended to do? I couldn't muster up the sympathy or the desire to go and help. But then I learned Rose had been there, and regretted my decision." It wasn't until the Doctor had said that yes, she was alive just stuck on her own parallel universe that the guilt over Canary Wharf had begun to fade. "Had I retconned you," Jack flashed Ianto an impish grin, "I wouldn't be having this conversation with you." Though something deep down told Jack that he'd have found Ianto years later when he was sure the memories wouldn't counteract the retcon. It'd happened before: look at Gwen.
Those words, though whispered (and Jack had a feeling weren't intended for his ears) hit Jack like a bloody ton of bricks. How a father, through his words, could make a child feel like this even years later was completely beyond him. But, then again, Jack had the distinct pleasure of having his mother do the same thing so many years ago and even two-thousand years of guilt hadn't erased the memory. He was glad he still had Ianto's face cupped tenderly in his hand, and soon the other lifted, forcing Ianto to look into his eyes. "The only problem with that theory is what it's based on: the fact that the child is fundamentally unloveable. From where I'm standing, both the child and the man he grew up to be are loveable. I should know." Jack drew in a breath, thumbs still running along his cheekbones as he spoke. "The father is powerful who can make his child feel like this, but it is the man who can overcome it that proves the true power."